The Friendship Files: The Tin Man's Heart
by LanieSullivan
Summary: Filler for "Promises to Keep." Set shortly after Francine's confrontation with Lee over his relationship with Amanda in which she takes her warning to him a step further.


Disclaimer: "Scarecrow and Mrs. King" is copyrighted to Warner Brothers and Shoot the Moon Productions. The plot is mine, but not the characters. This story is meant for enjoyment purposes only. No infringement is intended.

Author's Note: A new addition to The Friendship Files, taking place as a filler scene for "Promises to keep," and serving as a prequel of sorts to "The Choices We Make."

After stewing for the better part of an hour since Lee made his crack about a weekend at Pine Top with Amanda, Francine finally found the perfect weapon to shoot him down with or so she thought as she exited the ground floor elevator. She knew that Amanda would probably have a fit once she found out that she'd been digging through her background records, but after all, it was for her own good, wasn't it?

She tucked the file she'd dug up under her arm as she made her way past Mrs. Marston, and up the stairs, locked and loaded as she walked at a fast clip toward the Q Bureau. She paused at the door, listening intently for any sign that they were in there together. When she heard only the faint clicking of the computer keyboard, she stormed in and without so much as a hello, unceremoniously dropped the file in front of the agency's resident Romeo.

Startled, Lee paused in his typing, looked up at her questioningly and said, "What's this?"

"Just one more reason that you should end this thing with Amanda now before you break her heart," Francine stated frankly.

While Lee silently thumbed through the file to see what she'd dug up, she went on. "Do you see that there?" She pointed to a specific passage in the paperwork. "The reason she filed for divorce? Abandonment. Do you think she could take that kind of heartbreak again?"

When Lee just silently shrugged and continued perusing the file, she kept going, "Her ex left her! How do you think she'll take it when this thing between you fizzles out the way we both know that all your relationships do?"

Finally, Lee closed the file, rose from his seat, leaned over the desk to stare her down and responded, "There's a whole lot more to this..." He tapped the folder, "...than you know."

Francine looked at him curiously and questioned, "What do you know about it?"

"What I know about Amanda's divorce is none of your business!" Lee fired back stiffly. "And neither is my relationship with her."

"Relationship? Is that what you're calling it? Puh-lease! A relationship takes two people who are on the same page about what they want out of it. Amanda's a hard-core commitment type and you..." she glowered at him, "well, you're...you."

"What the hell is that supposed to mean? And what makes you so sure that she's the hard-core commitment type? She IS divorced, after all, and as you just found out she's the one who filed, not her ex."

"Because her ex walked out on her," Francine pointed out. "Just like we both know you'll do some day once the bloom is off the rose...just like you did with me."

"Oh, I get what this is about." Lee replied knowingly. "You're jealous."

"What? No, I'm not!'

"Yes, you are!"

"Am not!"

"Are too! You're pissed as hell that I have something real with Amanda when I never did with you!'

"Oh, that's ridiculous! You dumping me was the best thing that ever happened to me! I'm only looking out for Amanda!"

"Why? You've made it clear many times that you don't even like her, so why do you care? Maybe if we did break up and that is a big IF...Maybe then you'd get your way and she'd resign. Then you could do your whole I-told-you-so song and dance. I can just hear it now." In a mocking tone, he went on, "I always knew that Amanda wasn't cut out for this business, but what do you expect from a frumpy, suburban soccer mom?"

"I don't sound like that!" Francine replied defensively.

"Come on, Francine, how many times have you made cracks about her just like that? You can deny it all you want, but you ARE jealous of her, maybe not because of me, but maybe...just maybe because she's a better agent than you are."

Francine laughed sardonically. "Oh, that's rich! Amanda? A better agent than me? Never!"

"Okay, maybe not better, but she's succeeded in areas that you haven't." She may not have your training in weapons or hand-hand, but she is definitely..." He grinned at her, "...skilled...in areas that you're not."

"You're disgusting," Francine spat caustically.

"Amanda doesn't think so," Lee replied simply.

"That's because you've used your considerable charms to pull the wool over her eyes."

"No, Francine, I haven't," Lee let out a deep sigh. "Look, I know you don't get it and I don't expect you to, but there's something...different...about Amanda. We've been through so much together and we've shared a lot." "I'll just bet," Francine retorted and folded her arms across her chest.

"Would you just get your mind out of the gutter for a sec, huh? That's not what I'm talking about, although I have to admit-"

"Ugh!" Francine groaned cutting him off. "I suppose now you're going to start bragging about all the sordid details of your little skiing trip."

"No," Lee shook his head. "That part's private...between Amanda and me..."

"My, my, how times have changed," she fired back.

"Look, what I meant was that Amanda and I have shared things that neither of us has with other people. That's why I know that this here..." he picked up the folder and waved it at her, "...this doesn't tell the whole story about her divorce, about how hard it was for her to admit that it was really over." He dropped the folder and sank back down into his seat. "That's also why she's knows that there's more to me than just my crappy reputation with women." When he saw that Francine was about to interject, he held up a hand to stop her. "I know, Francine, I _earned_ that reputation...It's not something that I'm particularly proud of, but it's my own fault. The thing with Amanda though is that, unlike you, she sees past all of that. That's because since we've been seeing each other, we've shared everything about our pasts and I mean _everything_ and she accepts my past, just like I accept hers. She sees who I really am."

She sniggered at that. "Oh, she does, does she? If that were true, she'd run like hell. Instead, she's fallen completely in love with you," Francine put in triumphantly expecting to see Lee with a deer-in-the-headlights look of panic on his face.

What Francine saw instead surprised her to no end. He just smiled and replied softly, almost reverently, "I know."

"Which is why you can't keep going like this," Francine warned.

"Why? She's happy, I'm happy. That's all that should matter."

"But for how long? And what about her family? You get involved with Amanda, you're not just getting involved with her, you know. She has children and you're not exactly father-of-the-year material."

"You don't know that," Lee argued. "I've never had the opportunity before now. I've always shied away from kids-"

"Are you forgetting Aleksei," she parried with a laugh. "Boy, did you blow that one and if I recall, you had to have Amanda bail your ass out of that one."

"Just one more area where Amanda's more skilled than you are," Lee fired back. When she scowled at him, he sighed again and said, "I don't know if I'm cut out for it, but what I can tell you is that her boys are amazing kids and I'm learning more and more about how to relate to them, the more time I spend with them."

"God, this is worse than I thought," Francine said with a groan and a roll of her eyes. 'So, not only are you going to break her heart, but her boys' as well?"

"Would you stop already? I thought you were supposed to be my friend."

"I AM your friend," she replied. "Why do you think I feel the need to step in here? I admit that I wasn't exactly a cheerleader for Amanda when she first started here, but she has been good for you..." when Lee looked at her quizzically, she added, "...as your partner, I mean. Just as Billy predicted, she's helped you to be more careful in the field. I confess that I've seen the good she's done on that score, but how long do you think your partnership will go on once you've ripped her heart out?"

Lee rose from his seat angrily. "Who says I'm going to break _her_ heart here?" At the moment, he'd like nothing better than to rub it in her face that not only was he **not** going to break Amanda's heart, but that he was planning to marry her. He knew he couldn't do that though, no matter how much he'd love to shout from the heavens that the woman of his dreams had agreed to be his wife. Instead, he said challengingly, "As you just pointed out, she was the one who filed for divorce. How do you know that I won't be the one with the broken heart?"

"You'd have to have one first," Francine responded.

"The tin man's the one without a heart, Francine," Amanda interjected from behind them as she entered the room, "Not the Scarecrow."

"Well, I guess that means he's the one without a brain," Francine retorted, then turned to Amanda and added, "So, that must make you Glinda, the Good Witch."

"So, what does that make you, Francine," Lee grinned at her again, "The Wicked Witch of the East...or is it the West?"

Trying to stifle a laugh, Amanda said, "So, what was it Glinda said in the movie? Be gone before somebody drops a house on you too?"

"Fine, fine, fine," Francine replied with a frown. "I can take a hint..." She turned back to Lee for just a moment and added one parting shot, "Just think about what I said...That is if you can get The Wizard to give you a brain."

Two days later, Francine was seriously reconsidering her opinion when she saw Lee moping around the bullpen after Amanda's news that she broke up with him. She found him sitting at a vacant desk staring downward and approached him, "You okay?" she asked and peered over his shoulder to find that he was staring at a photo of him and Amanda together.

Lee ran his fingers along the curve of Amanda's face in the photo and laying it on thick replied, "I…I…I was just thinking about what The Tin Man said in the movie. Now, I know I've got a heart because it's breaking." He then stowed the picture away and hurriedly left the bullpen before she could see his real feelings behind his heartbroken facade.

As she watched him walk away, she wondered if that was why the Tin Man didn't have a heart...maybe someone had ripped it out. She made a mental note to have another talk with Amanda and get the details of the break-up from her.


End file.
